Boom. Yup, this dumb ass poster pretty much sums up this show. Hokey, pokey. I started watching NCIS: Los Angeles on account of its high ratings, and Chris O'Donnell, which don't always go together. Having never seen the original and not even really knowing this show existed, I thought I owed it to my waning American credibility to at least update myself on network tv's offerings. (I did, however, watch JAG, which spawned the Mark Harmon NCIS, way back in the way back.) In any case, I'm waiting for his character to become interesting, which he has the potential to be. A hard nosed foster kid whose "natural talent for undercover work is legend" and who, at the start of the show, is just returning from a prolonged sick leave after a few stray bullets found their way into his well preserved body. That has sympathetic hero with attachment issues written all over. Alas, such feelings require good acting and I always delude myself into thinking that Mr. O'Donnell's sparse skills might actually evolve. No hard feelings though; I love him for who he is - an all-American Catholic school boy from the midwest, and the type of guy my mom wants for a son-in-law.
But I digress. Okay, first of all, LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell in a police procedural buddy drama?! Someone at CBS has a lot of faith. The pairing doesn't scream chemistry, though I suppose there have been more awkward partnerships (George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell in Batman and Robin anyone?). Thus far I am unimpressed, but as the show's been picked up for a full season, I trust another 20 episodes of dead bodies and firefights will be a net positive in terms of male bonding.
O-M-G!
The rest of the team, sadly, does little to fill the personality void, with Hetty (Linda Hunt) being an exception. She reminds me of a benevolent nun, someone from a bygone era who manages and mothers a tight crew that is just a tad too cool for its own good. The 4 other team members merely occupy roles and offer little else. Dominic (Adam Jamal Craig) and Kensi (Daniela Ruah) are the more interesting pair, as a new recruit and a more seasoned junior agent, respectively. I could see a fresher dynamic emerge as their interactions in the field with O'Donnell and LL Cool J's characters, Callen and Sam, develop. There are inevitable issues of trust and competence, for example, that so far have been ignored for the sake of action. The 2 remaining members of the team, Nate the psychologist and Eric the tech dude, however, have no where to go, having already established themselves as the slightly preening all-purpose shrink and the geeked out, bluetoothed retro-nerd (looking like he missed the cut for Mark in Rent).
Some of my disappointment, or indifference really, comes from the fact that I just finished the first season of The Mentalist, which I thought was both well written and well acted. Each character had a distinct personality, as opposed to a generic job, e.g. newbie, body man, leader. You can't trade Kimball Cho, for example, with any other law enforcement character on television. His role as a senior agent is standard but actor Tim Kang squeezes every living ounce of dry wit out of him to create someone memorable and not just functional. There's also an engaging whodunnit quality about the show that gives more breathing space to personalities than to gunfights.
"Our Super Wall can kick CNN's Super Wall's ass."
But that's not what everyone goes for, so if you like your crime procedurals seasoned with more action, then NCIS: Los Angeles should be adequate. There's still good doses of humor and emotional tension, but that's mostly secondary to the action. The real thrill of this show is of the classic undercover, chase, and shoot-out variety, and the suspense comes not so much from solving the crime than from watching it being solved.
And really, what is with that promo shot? They both look like backlit Miami Vice tools, but with less hair, beefier arms, and tighter clothing. Oy vey. That said, can't wait until Tuesday for episode 6. Chris O'Donnell, it's been too long.
Ahhh, juco, probably where I belong right now. After hearing some good things about Community, I decided to try it out. I haven't seen much American comedy lately so not sure how this stacks up against what's already out there. The show is about some community college students who bond over a Spanish study group. It's an eclectic bunch, as is required for every sitcom, with Joel McHale of Talk Soup fame heading the group. He plays Jeff, a newly disbarred lawyer who fudged his college diploma (turns out Colombia has an extra 'o') so enrolls in a local college to finish his degree.
Jeff picks up a few friends along the way, most of whom cannot be described as normal. The characters are so zany that you kind of have to take the show as is. Britta, Jeff's love interest and one of the more lucid personalities here, accuses him of being arrogant and selfish, which he is. He trusts that his talent for lying, cheating, and general deception will carry him through his classes just as it did his career. In the first episode, he tries to enlist a former client and teacher at the college, played by one John Oliver, to give him all the answers to every test. Fail. His inadequacy, however, is more than matched by his new friends, including a moist-towelette tycoon, an ex-high school jock and the nerdy nut who sat behind him, a black single mother with a sharp tongue, and an Asian Muslim kid with dad issues (hmmm, no typecasting there). Throw in Ken Jeong being a Ken Jeong character, this time in the form of Senor Chang the Spanish teacher, and you have the making of a fantastically epileptic show. Half the laughs are well earned and come from straight witty writing while the other half is the type that gets squeezed out of uncomfortable absurdity - a teacher who thinks Robin Williams' Dead Poets antics actually work, John Oliver flipping out because his psychology experiment doesn't pan out. I understand some of it is tongue and cheek, as when two students protest the lack of press freedom in Guatemala because they want to bake brownies for a cause and tape their mouths during a candlelight vigil. Of course I could just have issues with Ken Jeong who is a veritable bottle of Ritalin that needs a better childproof cap. Overall though, the show's a good pickup. Community college dares us to hope, so NBC would have us believe. All these guys are pathetic, which is exactly what makes them endearing.
(Kudos to whoever penned the Degrassi nod in episode 4. Treat.)
Abed (the Asian) and Troy (the jock) rocking the Spanish.
Krumping in the study room because that's the place to do it.
Whoa, some major WTF moments in last night's episode of FlashForward. The opening scene sees the guys coming out of some late night meeting. As they're headed out of the parking garage, their car gets broadsided by a huge van. Out pop some Asian dudes with mean ass guns. Next thing we know, the agents' car is toast. Flash backward to 39 hours earlier and the episode recounts a meeting before some Senate committee on financing various FBI projects to determine the cause of the blackout.
A lot of stuff goes on throughout the course of the next 39 hours. We get our first glimpse of the president, who looks a lot like Peter Coyote, and discover that the Senate committee chairman is a hardass woman named Clemente. No one likes her but everyone tolerates her because she plays hardball, which Stanford is also adept at. He blackmails the president for more funding, and the president, in a move that may or may not be related, nominates Clemente as veep. Meanwhile, back in LA, cutie Al (Lee Thompson 'Don't Call Me Jett Jackson' Young) and Janice have located some images that show massive pylons under construction in Somalia at the same time of the '91 blackout. Oh, Janice can also kick your ass, and she's a lesbian.
Yeah, so pretty intense as shit just keeps going down on this show. The biggest WTF moment though comes as the show catches up to the opening shot. The scene is extended with some more gun fu action, but then, Janice pops into a shady looking street with a clumsy bag of groceries (really?) and she gets caught in the crossfire with some mean ass Asians. Man, what is going on? It was veering into Lost meets Johnnie To territory. She gets s-h-o-t and as she tumbles onto the pavement in glorious slo-mo, she sees her flashforward, which we all know is her getting a sonogram. So...does she die on the mean streets of LA in a pool of her own blood? Of course not, but can't wait to see how everyone emerges from this mess.
This movie's been sitting around for awhile. I've been waiting for it since its Sundance buzz, and it's finally getting released in time for awards season. Can't wait until it makes it to Hong Kong - which will be never, unless it bags a couple Oscars. So let's hope the Academy does the right thing.
Youtube star JR Aquino's version of Houstatlantavegas. Drake's version is smooth but I also like this mellow acoustic take. Also check out the dude's other covers. I'm loving Home and Knock You Down.
My favorite cover of Best I Ever Had. A bit unconventional, a bit lounge-y, but still a unique spin on a song that has been beaten and bloodied by radio overplay (so I'm told). A lot of the other versions are relatively straightforward acoustic takes, some of which are also impressive, but this one stands out for me.
Looks like the 8th series of Spooks will debut sometime in October. That's - this month! Via an article uploaded on RichardArmitageOnline, there will be loads of sex and danger, just what I like in my spy show. Turns out Lucas North still has some baggage leftover from his Russian rendezvous. He also gets entangled with a blond, leggy CIA agent, which could have been me in another life, except for the blond and leggy part, and the CIA agent. Ruth comes back, which is supposed to be a big deal. I have yet to watch, well, most of the show; series 2-6 are hard to come by in these parts. In any case, let the spy games begin.
Daaamn. Who knew the Asian kid could dance? Killed it. Harry Shum Jr has got the Asians abuzz. He's mostly a dancer with some bit parts here, there, and everywhere. Guy was even one of the original iPod silhouettes. Also loved Kevin McHale's solo on Confessions, and let's give credit to Dijon Talton, the other hottie football player turned crooner (and Meagan Good's cousin). The girls' Halo/Walking on Sunshine was also good, but dudes in leather jackets and white ts belting out Bon Jovi? Kind of awesome.
This is not me 10 years ago, although I still look like I did 10 years ago. Apparently, Spinner, one of the main characters off of Degrassi, had an adopted sister named Kendra. She appeared in one of the earlier seasons as a quasi-love interest for Toby and then disappeared. So today's question: What the hell happened to Kendra Mason? Are you telling me this school in Toronto didn't have any Chinese people? Come on now. That's setting a show in San Francisco with no Asian folks. Oh wait, I think it's called Monk.
Boom. Yup, this dumb ass poster pretty much sums up this show. Hokey, pokey. I started watching NCIS: Los Angeles on account of its high ratings, and Chris O'Donnell, which don't always go together. Having never seen the original and not even really knowing this show existed, I thought I owed it to my waning American credibility to at least update myself on network tv's offerings. (I did, however, watch JAG, which spawned the Mark Harmon NCIS, way back in the way back.) In any case, I'm waiting for his character to become interesting, which he has the potential to be. A hard nosed foster kid whose "natural talent for undercover work is legend" and who, at the start of the show, is just returning from a prolonged sick leave after a few stray bullets found their way into his well preserved body. That has sympathetic hero with attachment issues written all over. Alas, such feelings require good acting and I always delude myself into thinking that Mr. O'Donnell's sparse skills might actually evolve. No hard feelings though; I love him for who he is - an all-American Catholic school boy from the midwest, and the type of guy my mom wants for a son-in-law.
O-M-G!
"Our Super Wall can kick CNN's Super Wall's ass."
